Development of closed-cell syntactic SiC-foam for Flow Channel Inserts

Syntactic closed-cell SiC-foam is being developed as a potential material for Flow Channel Inserts (FCIs). Syntactic foams consist of hollow spheres embedded in a matrix material. Manufacturing of syntactic polymer-base foams is a well-established technology; however, fabrication of syntactic ceramic foams has not been widely demonstrated. For FCI applications the syntactic SiC-foam should consist of near-stochiometric SiC with a well controlled closed-cell size distribution. Here, we report on the development status of the syntactic foam for FCI applications.